


good job, i'm saved

by imkaylamarie



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Morgan Stark-centric (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Post-Endgame, Tony Stark Feels, tony stark's funeral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 10:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20256727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imkaylamarie/pseuds/imkaylamarie
Summary: "Morgan spends the day of her dad's funeral in silence."Or, Morgan meets some of her dad's closest friends, and finally understands the sacrifice he made.





	good job, i'm saved

Morgan spends the day of her dad’s funeral in silence. When her mom comes into the bedroom to get her, she’s anxiously tugging a brush through her one piece of hair that refused to lay flat. She’s not sure what emotion lays behind her mom’s eyes when she looks up – sadness? Amusement? All she knows is one moment she’s sitting cross-legged on her bed and the next she’s in her mom’s arms, being carried into the living room.

Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy are already sitting there, and Morgan buries her face in her mom’s shoulder when she sees one of her dad’s helmets sitting on the table across the room.  
“Come on,” her mom whispers, “your father left us a message.”

Morgan doesn’t quite understand everything her dad says, but she thinks its because the message isn’t only meant for her. At one point, she catches a glimpse of Uncle Rhodey, blinking back tears behind a calm expression. Morgan realizes that she’s never seen her uncle cry before. 

“Everything’s gonna work out exactly the way it’s supposed to” Her attention snaps back to the recording, because now her dad is staring at her – no, not really, because this is a recording and her dad is _gone_.

“I love you three-thousand.” Beside her, Morgan hears her mom stifle a sob. She feels tears welling up in her own eyes and vigorously wipes them away. And then, in a blink, the image of her dad is gone.

Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy get up out of their seats, giving her mom a nod as they exit. Morgan knows the rest of the funeral guests are waiting down by the lake, because she heard them all come in earlier while hiding in her room.

“Whenever you’re ready,” her mom says quietly. Morgan blinks at her. What if she’s never ready? Maybe if she sits here long enough her dad will walk through the front door and yell “Surprise!” and then he’ll take her outside and push her on the tire swing, higher and higher until she can close her eyes and imagine she’s flying – 

Her imagination comes to a halt as she catches a glimpse of her dad’s helmet again. She’s aware only of it and of her mother, who has one arm curled protectively around her. She can’t bring herself to say the words, so instead she lets out a little grunt, hoping her mom understands.

The sun is almost blinding when Morgan and her mom step off the porch, and it takes a second for her eyes to adjust. A large group of people stands between her and the lake, and Morgan shrinks ever so slightly into her mom’s side for a second. She can only recognize a handful of them – there’s Rhodey and Happy, as well as two of the older men who had come to see her father what felt like months ago. She knew one was – her brain fought to remember – Steve. She didn’t remember the other one’s name. 

Down at the dock, they had arranged a wreath of flowers around her dad’s arc reactor. Morgan remembered her dad showing it to her once – still in its glass case – and remarking that “Without this, I wouldn’t have you.” Watching the flowers drift off into the middle of the lake, Morgan felt with a jolt like a part of her was leaving too. The minutes seemed to drag on, but finally, when they couldn’t see the glint of the reactor anymore, her mother guided her slowly back through the crowd to the porch.

“What now?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Now we’ll let everyone have their own time,” her mom replies, as the groups begin to break up and mingle with each other, speaking in hushed voices. Almost immediately, Morgan sees a group of them walking slowly towards the porch. When they get there, one of them – he visited my dad – nodded politely at her mom.

“Pepper -er, Mrs. Potts – er – Stark,” he stumbles over his words, and Morgan sees her mom stifle an amused grin.

“Scott,” she says warmly. “It’s good to see you again.”

Scott – that’s his name, Morgan remembers now – looks slightly off put by the greeting, as if he’s trying to grasp how her mom knows his name, until the woman next to him nudges him slightly.  
“Oh, right. Um, Mrs. Stark –,”

“Pepper is fine, Scott.”

“Right, Mrs. – sorry – Pepper. I’d like to introduce you to my – girlfriend, Hope. And er, these are her parents,” he said, waving to the older couple with them, “Hank and Janet.”

“I heard a lot about your husband in my days,” Hank said. “I only wish we had a chance to meet. I doubt there’s ever going to be a mind like his again in my lifetime.” Morgan hears her mom murmur a thank you, and the group turns to leave before Scott wheels back around.

“Actually, well, I was going to say – I have a daughter, Cassie. She, well, she was Morgan’s age but then – the snap. Anyways, now she’s older and to be completely honest I don’t know how to raise a teenage daughter but I thought – hey, maybe she’d want to watch Morgan occasionally? Only if you think that’s alright, of course, I wouldn’t want to overstep -,” Scott breaks off because this time her mother is chuckling. 

“Scott, you and your family are more than welcome here anytime,” she smiles at him. “Morgan would be happy to have a new friend.” Morgan stares up at Scott, trying to figure out what kind of child a man like that could have. He seems sweet, she thinks, and funny. She hopes his daughter is too.

“Thanks,” Scott says quickly, and once again he turns and leads his group down the stairs, over to where another group sits. Morgan barely has time to fidget with her dress when another group comes trudging up the stairs. She recognizes Steve this time, but there’s two other men with him that she’s never seen before.

“Captain Rogers,” her mom nods politely at the group standing before them. Captain Rogers – Steve – nods back at both her mom and at her. Morgan tilts her head at him.

“This is Sam,” Steve says, motioning to the dark-skinned man to his left, who steps forward and shakes her mom’s hand. “And this,” he pauses for a second, “this is my best friend, Bucky.”

Morgan feels her mom’s hand squeeze her shoulder ever so slightly, though she doesn’t know why. The man standing on Steve’s other side matches him in stature, but the way he’s shoved his hands in his pockets makes him look half his size. Morgan also notices that he refuses to catch either of their eyes.

“Buck wasn’t sure if he should come,” Steve whispers, “Said he didn’t feel like he should without Tony’s forgiveness.” Morgan tilts her head again. She knows her dad had been through his fair share of things before she was born, but he had never talked about them. Her mom stiffens beside her, and then, after a few seconds, she feels her relax.

“My husband spent many years of his life bitter about things he couldn’t control,” she spoke calmly, and Morgan could see Bucky visibly tense.  
“But,” her mother continues, “he chose love over bitterness in the end, and because I know my husband and what he would have done if he were here – I forgive you.” Morgan watched as the long-haired man visibly relaxed. Steve reached out one arm around his friend’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Pepper,” Steve says, beginning to turn away. Bucky nods – Morgan can see tears in his eyes.

“Steve,” her mom calls, causing the blonde to turn around again. “My husb- Tony – I know you had your differences, but he never stopped caring about you.” Steve doesn’t reply, only nods, but Morgan can see that he too is blinking back tears.

Sam hangs back for a second, flashing a glance at Morgan. “You know,” he says, “If I can convince that one to give up the shield for a bit, maybe I’ll take you sledding on it.” He gives Morgan a wink and a toothy grin, and then whisks around and trots after his two companions. Morgan looks up at her mom, eyes wide.

“Only if your Uncle Rhodey is there to supervise,” her mom comments. “Come on, it’s getting dark. We can go inside now.”

Morgan notices another crowd of people inside her house, but she doesn’t recognize any of them. She lets go of her mom’s hand and totters into the living room, where there’s a – a tree sitting on her couch.

“Little Stark!” A large man with long blond hair calls out as she comes into the room. “Come meet the Guardians!” Morgan stares at the strange group surrounding her, her brow furrows as they begin to rapidly introduce themselves – Morgan catches none of it except that the tree is called Groot, and there’s some kind of animal – a raccoon? – called Rocket. She also recognizes Nebula, who her dad talked about at length.

“Look at her, you’re stressing the poor kid out!” Rocket sighs exasperatedly. The room falls quiet and Morgan reaches out a hand to pet the raccoon on the head, like she would a dog. She can hear someone gasp, and she draws her hand away after a few quick pats.

“Well er, if your mother ever lets you go to space,” Rocket continues, “You hit us up, alright? We know all the best planets to visit.” Morgan blinks at him, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. She doesn’t know what to say, so instead she slowly backs out of the room. She can hear Rocket muttering to his group that if “Anyone who isn’t that little girl ever tries to pet him, he’ll shove a homemade bomb up their -,”

Morgan backs into something – someone – she realizes, looking up. A blonde woman stands over her, and for a second Morgan thinks its her mom, until she realizes that this woman’s hair is much, much shorter. The woman seems startled as she stares down at Morgan, before recognition slowly seeps into her expression.

“Morgan, right?” She speaks calmly. Morgan doesn’t reply, just nods once. “I’m Carol. It’s very nice to meet you.” Carol crouches down so that she’s on Morgan’s level, offering her a hand to shake. Morgan takes it hesitantly, shaking Carol’s hand up and down. After a moment, the other woman stands back up, staring over Morgan’s head.

“Mrs. Stark,” she says, and Morgan turns to find her mother, smiling warmly at the two of them. She dashes to her mother’s side, burying her face in her leg.

“Carol,” her mother extends her own hand this time. “I’m glad you could make it.” Carol hesitates for a second, before bowing her head.

“I’m sorry,” she says, so quietly that Morgan barely hears it. Her mom opens her mouth to reply, but Carol continues before she can. “It was – it was me, I was the last person to fight Thanos and I should have beaten him, but…the stones…,” her voice trails off. Morgan sees her gaze drop to the floor.

“Carol, you saved my husband. Without you, he would have died in that spaceship five years ago.” Her mom’s words seem to rouse the other woman, because she raises her gaze again to meet hers and then her mom’s.

“I just – I should have been better,” she sighs, her gaze resting on Morgan.

“Tony believed in you – I know he did, and I know that no one here blames you for his death.” Carol nods again, straightening up.

“I meant to tell you – Nick – Fury is looking for you,” she says, giving them another nod as she slips past them into the room where the Guardians are still sitting. Morgan’s mom looks down at her.

“Come on,” she says, “I’ll introduce you to Mr. Fury.”

Mr. Fury is a very intimidating man, Morgan thinks. The black eyepatch only makes him look more intimidating, but as he looks at her, she can see warmth in his one remaining eye. He looks above her, at her mom, who rests a hand on Morgan’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you go sit with Uncle Happy,” she says quietly, nudging her along. Morgan scuffs her feet as she walks along the length of the porch to where Happy is sitting. He looks up as she sits down next to him.

After a few seconds of silence, he speaks up. “Can I get you anything?” 

For a second, Morgan doesn’t want to reply, because _My dad_ doesn’t seem like the right answer. Her stomach rumbles, and instead she quietly mutters, “Cheeseburger.”

“-get you all the cheeseburgers you want,” she realizes that Happy has replied to her, and offers a soft “Okay” in response. The two sit in silence, watching as various groups come and go. Some introduce themselves to Morgan, while others only offer a sad smile as they pass.

“My dad knew all these people?” Morgan speaks – finally – almost jolting Happy out of his thoughts.

“Yea, all of them, and more. Your dad – he – he saved a lot of people while he was here.” Morgan was immediately taken back to the day when her dad had been visited, when she had climbed into his lap and he had told her that she had saved him.

_I saved my dad_, she thought. _And then he saved everyone else._

“He was a hero,” Happy speaks up again. “One of the best.” He flashes a small smile at Morgan.

“Hey, Happy?” Morgan’s head, which was beginning to droop from exhaustion, shoots up again. She can see a young man – Peter? – she recognizes him from the photo in her house. Happy beckons him, motioning him to sit between them.

“This is Morgan, Peter.” Happy motions to her, and Peter turns to look at her. There’s that ever-familiar look of sadness in his eyes, but Morgan thinks that there’s kindness there too.

“-m sleepy,” she murmured, her head slumping again, landing on Peter’s shoulder. The teen freezes for a second, before placing one arm around her. She snuggles in closer.

“Do you want a bedtime story?” Happy asks. Morgan nods, her eyes still closed.

“Alright,” he begins. “One time, your dad decided to buy your mom this giant bear as a present. This thing was huge….”

Still inside, Pepper talks with Fury as they both move towards the front door.

“…and if you ever need anything,” Fury finishes as he opens the door. Pepper opens her mouth to reply, and then stops, staring at the trio in front of her. Morgan is passed out on Peter’s shoulder, her mouth slightly open. Peter, meanwhile, is staring, enraptured, at Happy, who seems to be mid story. Pepper smiles, her first genuine smile all day.

“If we need anything,” Pepper says, quietly, so as not to disturb the trio in front of them. “Tony left us the world’s biggest family to help.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written in years, so I hope you enjoy it!


End file.
